Felicity Aston
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Felicity Ann Dawn Aston is a British explorer, author and climate scientist.


Early life and career

Originally from Kent, Aston went to Tonbridge Grammar School for Girls and was educated at
University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
(BSc) and
Reading University The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...
(MSc in applied
meteorology Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agricultur ...
). Between 2000 and 2003, Felicity Aston was the senior meteorologist at
Rothera Research Station The Rothera Research Station is a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base on the Antarctic Peninsula, located at Rothera Point, Adelaide Island. Rothera also serves as the capital of the British Antarctic Territory, a British Overseas Territor ...
located on
Adelaide Island Adelaide Island is a large, mainly ice-covered island, long and wide, lying at the north side of Marguerite Bay off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. The Ginger Islands lie off the southern end. Mount Bodys is the easternmost mounta ...
off the
Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...
operated by the
British Antarctic Survey The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) is the United Kingdom's national polar research institute. It has a dual purpose, to conduct polar science, enabling better understanding of list of global issues, global issues, and to provide an active prese ...
, monitoring climate and ozone. As was usual at the time for British Antarctic Survey staff, she spent three summers and two winters continuously at the station without leaving the Antarctic.


Exploration

In 2005, Aston joined a race across
Arctic Canada Northern Canada (), colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada, variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories a ...
to the 1996 position of the
North Magnetic Pole The north magnetic pole, also known as the magnetic north pole, is a point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the Earth's magnetic field, planet's magnetic field points vertically downward (in other words, if a magnetic comp ...
, known as the Polar Challenge. She was part of the first all-female team to complete this race; they came in 6th place out of 16 teams. In 2006, Aston led the first all-female British expedition across the
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
ice sheet. In 2009, she organised and led the
Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition The Kaspersky Commonwealth Antarctic Expedition was a Commonwealth of Nations expedition in which seven women from six Commonwealth member countries skied to the South Pole in 2009 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwe ...
, in which seven women from six Commonwealth member countries skied to the
South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...
in 2009 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Commonwealth. ''Call of the White: Taking the world to the South Pole'' is her account of this expedition. It was published by Summersdale in 2011 and was a finalist in the Banff Mountain Book Competition in that year. In 2012, she became the first person to ski alone across the
Antarctic The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antar ...
land-mass using only personal muscle power, as well as the first woman to cross the Antarctic land-mass alone. Her journey began on 25 November 2011, at the
Leverett Glacier The Leverett Glacier () is about long and wide, flowing from the Antarctic Plateau to the south end of the Ross Ice Shelf through the Queen Maud Mountains. It is an important part of the South Pole Traverse from McMurdo Station to the Admundson ...
, and continued for 59 days and a distance of 1,084 miles (1,744 kilometres). She had two supply drops. She said, "The fact that I had crossed Antarctica, despite the tears and the fear and the alone-ness, deepened my belief that we are each far more capable than we give ourselves credit for. Our bodies are stronger and our minds more resilient than we could ever imagine." In 2018 she led an all-women EuroArabian expedition to the North Pole, the team included the mountaineer
Asma Al Thani Sheikha Asma Al Thani () is a Qatari mountaineer who is the first Qatari woman to summit Mount Everest, Lhotse, and Manaslu, K2 as well as the first Qatari female to climb Ama Dablam. She is also the first Qatari person to ski to the North Po ...
, who became the first Qatari person to ski there. The expedition contributed to the study of human psychology under extreme conditions. Aston has also walked across the ice of
Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...
, the world's deepest and oldest lake, and completed the
Marathon des Sables ''Marathon des Sables'', or MdS, (French language, French for Marathon of the Sands) "Facing Africa NOMA : The Marathon des Sables", FacingAfrica.org, 2010, webpage: -->pages/mds/default.asp FA8. is a seven-day, about ultramarathon, whi ...
. Between 2020 and 2024 Aston led the B.I.G (Before It's Gone) expedition, an all-female expedition project to research Arctic sea ice. The four-year project involved ski expeditions to Drangajökull, the northernmost glacier in
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
, Svalbard and Nunavut in Canada. In each location her team completed a ski traverse and collected surface snow and ice samples, to be analyzed for the presence of
microplastics Microplastics are "synthetic solid particles or polymeric matrices, with regular or irregular shape and with size ranging from 1 μm to 5 mm, of either primary or secondary manufacturing origin, which are insoluble in water." Microplastics a ...
,
black carbon Black carbon (BC) is the light-absorbing refractory form of Chemical_element, elemental carbon remaining after pyrolysis (e.g., charcoal) or produced by incomplete combustion (e.g., soot). Tihomir Novakov originated the term black carbon in ...
and
heavy metals upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively h ...
.


Positions and awards

She is an official ambassador for both the British Antarctic Monument Trust and the Equaladventure charity, and was awarded an honorary doctorate by
Canterbury Christ Church University Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU) is a Public university, public research university located in Canterbury, Kent, England. Founded as a Church of England college for teacher training in 1962, it was granted university status in 2005. ...
for her exploration achievements. She is a
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...
and
The Explorers Club The Explorers Club is an American-based international multidisciplinary professional society with the goal of promoting scientific exploration and field study. The club was founded in New York City in 1904 and has served as a meeting point for ex ...
. In 2016 she co-presented a television history programme series about the 1898 Klondyke Gold Rush. Her photo-portrait by Anita Corbin was one of the ''100 First Women'' Portraits at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery,
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
. Aston was appointed
Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(MBE), and awarded the
Polar Medal The Polar Medal is a medal awarded by the Sovereign of the United Kingdom to individuals who have outstanding achievements in the field of polar research, and particularly for those who have worked over extended periods in harsh climates. It w ...
in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to polar exploration.


Personal life

She lives in Iceland and farms eiderdown from wild eider ducks on an island in the Arctic
Westfjords The Westfjords or West Fjords (, ) is a large peninsula in northwestern Iceland and an administrative region, the least populous in the country. It lies on the Denmark Strait, facing the east coast of Greenland. It is connected to the rest of I ...
, is married and has a son.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aston, Felicity Living people 1977 births 21st-century English scientists 21st-century British earth scientists 21st-century English women scientists 21st-century British explorers English explorers British climatologists Women climatologists British expatriates in Iceland British Antarctic Survey Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Members of the Order of the British Empire Female recipients of the Polar Medal Female polar explorers British explorers of Antarctica British Antarctic scientists British women earth scientists Women Antarctic scientists People from Birchington-on-Sea Alumni of University College London Alumni of the University of Reading